Next Generation Science: Force and Motion in Kindergarten

One of the strands of the Next Generation Science Standards is Force and Motion. Because we have just started Next Gen this year, I am planning form scratch.... which has actually turned out to be a lot of fun! Next Gen is meant to be hands on-- kids need to learn by doing! Instead of keeping our force and motion unit whole group, I chose to introduce vocabulary and concepts during a short 5 minute mini lesson, then we broke off into centers that spanned two weeks.

My friends work very well independently because we spent much of the beginning of the year learning how to do so, and it has paid off. I was able to have one teacher run center and the rest of the activities were done independently. 

Marble Maze Construction

At this center, I left a bin of marble maze construction pieces that I got from Oriental Trading's Learn 365. The kids had to work in teams of 3-4 to build the marble maze. Prior to centers starting, we had talked about gravity and I gave some examples by holding small objects up in the air and letting them floor. One of the best things about letting the kids work independently is listening them use the vocabulary and concepts they learned about all on their own. I heard kids saying things like "gravity is what makes the marble fall to the bottom", etc. This center was such a huge hit with my kids that I have made it a free time choice! If you want to grab this marble maze, click here. 

Building a Chain Reaction

At this center, the kids worked independently to build a chain reaction using dominoes. I grabbed a couple sets of dominoes from Dollar Tree in the beginning of the school year that we had been using for math, so I was able to use them for this center. I gave the kids the choice of working as a team or working by themselves to build, and I was pleasantly surprised that they ALL chose to work together! This center was great for talking about the concept of "pushing" and the kids picked up on the idea that they had to "push" just one and then the rest of the dominoes "pushed" each other. 

Marble Painting

Marble paintings are such a fun way to connect art with force and motion. Because we did these centers around the holiday time, we used red and green paint to decorate stockings! My kindergarteners provided the "force" needed to make the marble roll around the pan and decorate their stockings. I even heard one friend say "when I tip the pan, gravity pulls it to the side that's lower!" You can marble painting any time of the-- adding a plain piece of paper and allowing the kids to choose their paint colors would make for a perfect piece of force and motion art!

Testing Friction

I am so mad at myself for not having more pictures of this center because it was such an awesome experiment. Students tested friction by blowing a marble on a variety of different surfaces. They used the carpet, tile floor, a towel, and a yoga mat to see which surface it was easiest to make the marble move on. 

Ramps

This is an AMAZING that I ordered through Oriental Trading and it has so many different experiments that go along perfectly with a force and motion unit. We:

• Experimented with speed/ distance by testing two different ramp heights. Students used the recording sheet that came with the kit to write their observations.
• Tested friction by using the bumpy sides and smooth sides of the ramps.
• Tested the idea that an object won't move unless a force acts upon it-- we stacked blocks and talked about how they would stay stacked because nothing is making them move. We then used the swinging ball to knock them over.

This kit is totally worth it and you can grab it HERE.